Lexicon/NightSableEmpire

Night Sable Empire, The

From the memoirs of Eli, Consul to the Courts of Heaven and Eclipse Caste Exalted:

I travelled to the domain of Grona-Abassi alone, for to bring any allies to the lands of the Lady of Kin-Strife was folly. She was grateful, but you can not deny a God her nature, and I was not about to allow her to cause rifts within my own Circle. In defeating the demon Xerysis, my Circle had satisfied Grona-Abassi's desires, as her competition with the Fear That Shatters Nations was well-known among the spirit courts. Humbly, I asked in return that she satiate my curiosity about a topic within her domain of expertise, and she agreed. After the proper honors and prayers, I asked the Goddess of Broken Brotherhoods about the Night Sable Empire.

She was happy to answer the query, and I will only paraphrase her words here, as my memory can not do the goddess justice. I remember being particularly uneasy with the feral smile that crept across her face as she told the story of the Night Sable Empire, noting with pride how eminent it was among events in her domain. Grona-Abassi told the tale of how the Night Sable Empire was born in strife, revolving around the final judgement Flawless Mirror cast down on Jubilant Willow. The latter went into hiding, and the former dispatched warriors and sorcerers to bring him to justice. Many of those soldiers arrived in a northeastern nation named Uahlvat, and they entertained no notion of restraint in using the tools at their disposal to try to locate Jubilant Willow, who they believed was in the area. The Year of Revealing, during which all manner of sorcerous and investigative methods were used, resulted in the ruination of Uahlvat, both in the dismantling of their society and in the twisting of the local Essence. Worse yet, not a trace of Jubilant Willow was found there.

According to the goddess' words, shortly thereafter, a Circle of Exalted named the Night Sable Assembly came to the Solar Deliberative, claiming to be from the region around Uahlvat and decrying the abuse of power the Deliberative used when they came to the small nation. They claimed that had the Deliberative consulted the local powers and had them deal with the investigation, instead a central authority, it would not have resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. The Night Sable Assembly demanded reform, stating that management of Creation would be better in the hands of regional powers instead of a central authority. Not surprisingly (and Grona-Abassi grinned widely as she said this), the Night Sable Assembly found many political allies in Exalted who wished to increase their own personal domains or wished less oversight on their own activities.

Debate raged on, until it reached such a point that the election of a new Solar Monarch was called to end the debate, and when the dust settled, a member of the Night Sable Assembly took the position. Yearning Earth, the new Solar Monarch, took it as her first action to dismantle much of the Solar Deliberative's authoritative powers, putting more of the power in local and regional Exalted. Smothering levels of oversight were drastically cut, and Exalted were given vast leeway in managing Creation within their domains. In the end, Yearning Earth's own position was reduced to a nearly ornamental state.

Though the intentions were good, these actions led to the greatest tragedies of the First Age. Corrupted Exalted ruled Creation without reticence or rules, and the people suffered under their tyranny. Though some Exalted saw the crimes of their kin, they were unable to call upon any significant backing to halt it, and were forced to only watch as the great works of the First Age began to break down or become perverted. In the end, the Dragon-Blooded could take no more of the situation, and they threw down their former masters.

Grona-Abassi, as I left her domain, chuckled to me and told me that she was pleased to see the Solars return to Creation, and that she greatly looked forward to their accomplishments. I have to admit a chill ran up my spine as she said those words, and I wondered honestly if my kin had learned any lessons.

See Also:

• Flawless Mirror
• Grand Solar Monarchy
• Grona-Abassi
• Jubilant Willow
• Uahlvat
• Yearning Earth
• Other N Entries

--Dimitryi

This entry rocks muchly, but might you drop one of the three Phantoms? I do applaud the attempt at unpopulated letters though. - Telgar

Grona-Abassi is a phantom that was already created by someone else, if I recall correctly. So there's only two new phantoms here and it's totally kosher.\\ ~ Shataina

Yep, Grona-Abassi is a pre-existing backlink created for someone else. The only two that are new, that I made, are Uahlvat and Yearning Earth. - Dimitryi